Dining on a budget

[serenitynow]

Absolutely figure in the cost of tips in table service restaurants in your decision.

We had done the DDP in the past and never added in the cost of tips, since you pay for the dining plan in advance and tip at the time of the meal. We looked at all the food costs after our last “free dining” trip.

We stayed at a moderate and paid to upgrade to the deluxe since we do a lot of character meals. After the fact, once we ran the numbers, free dining cost us about $115.00 each day:

$23.00 per person per day to upgrade (x3 for us)
$45.00 average tip daily at table service restaurant

We ate much more food that’s we normally do and much of the food was mediocre at best. Also, some of the character interactions at the buffets were like a drive by quick picture stop. Not to mention the hassle of having to plan our days around our dining reservations and fast passes. So for us, the DDP isn’t worth it to us anymore, even if it’s “free”.

 

[mom2aprincenprincess]

I know you're stressed about the food costs...but the way I figure it for you...

You have an athlete and a car, since you're going to a martial arts tourney. And you only have 4 park days, with the one day off park and off park eating...so the question becomes, can you even comfortably spend $1200 in just 4 days on food at Disney? Would you want to, when budget obviously matters to you? And what happens if someone gets sick or tired from the tourney and wants to pass on food...or if the coach has a "set eating concept" pre-tourney?

If it were me, pass on the DDP in all forms, keep the discount you have, and fully enjoy your 4 park days. Eat what you like when you like, and plan 1 or 2 "sit down meals that suck park time away" b/c in the new Disney concept, they shorten park hours from past 8-midnight MK type hours from a decade ago...even in the summer, you may only have 12-13 committed park hours per park...and if you have a short day, go offsite and have a fun meal...

Although we plan to be off site one day for the tournament, we still plan to eat breakfast of some sort and dinner on site. We are only planning to eat lunch at the tournament.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Although we plan to be off site one day for the tournament, we still plan to eat breakfast of some sort and dinner on site. We are only planning to eat lunch at the tournament.

True, but I assume you'll want to go wherever the athlete (or the coach) wants for both...and timing might be really questionable for both, so having a Disney "fee if canceled" reservation might not be the way you were planning to go...

 

[mom2aprincenprincess]

True, but I assume you'll want to go wherever the athlete (or the coach) wants for both...and timing might be really questionable for both, so having a Disney "fee if canceled" reservation might not be the way you were planning to go...

Luckily that won’t be an issue because this is not team tournament. This is a world tournament where there are no team competitions, it’s all individual. So that’s a plus. We may not even see our academy master

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We are basically 4 adults and 4 park days. For an adult lunch and dinner for each of us, the calculator I found was about 560 for all 4 days. Really helpful

 

[mom2aprincenprincess]

We are basically 4 adults and 4 park days. For an adult lunch and dinner for each of us, the calculator I found was about 560 for all 4 days. Really helpful

Do you have link to this calculator?

 

[momto4obkids]

Do you have link to this calculator?

Try www.distripplanner.com this is the one I use to figure out a rough idea of food costs.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Would you have bought park hoppers AND dining?

If the answer is no then I would probably not go with "free dining" and instead take the room discount.

I myself love park hoppers but I wouldn't purchase the Dining plan on its own.

I went to Disney's website and added up each meal cost with what I *thought* I'd be more likely to get. I didn't scrimp on the cost. I would add in the dessert and a soft drink (even knowing I'd probably wouldn't get those) to just in case just to up the price. I found that tedious but more precise than a generalized calculator (from what I understand they average the meal cost) because I could look at what *I* was getting. Sales tax is 6.5% (unless you're in the All-Stars area where it's 7.5% because it's in a different county). Then you can if you want to take it further estimate or use your normal tip amount. Disney does change pricing so it's not a stagnant pricing.

I think TBH it really can come down to how precise you want to try and estimate. Cost is but one actual factor in someone's decision to utilize the Dining Plan (even if it's under the free dining promotion).